Traction control front wheel drive only. in snow or ice condition. traction flashes up on consul, but don't notice any difference in traction. explain to me, what traction is, and what it does? on 1994 cadilac deville.

all wheel drive is not 4 wheel drive
there is a diff in the transmission that supplies power equally to the front and read wheels
when traction is lost on a drive set , the other set will remain stationary and the set without traction will spin as in your description
the same result will occur if you have both driver side wheels in a bog, the passenger wheels will be stationary and the drivers side wheels will spin
on some AWD vehicles and I thing yours has one there is a button that can be engaged that stops the transmission diff from acting like a diff and then the rear wheels will drive
read you owners hand book for driving in bad conditions

It is not supposed to. The traction control gives power to opposing wheels and applies brakes in milliseconds to prevent total loss of control of the car. The computer immediately takes over and prevents 4wd that could send the car into a worse skid.. You are talking about ice which is very different from snow where traction is concerned. The grinding you hear could have been the anti-lock system being activated.

if you have traction control then it is probably the front drive wheels slipping on the snow/ice surface..

Elaine,

not work, do tell what makes you think it dont work (a lamp) or tires slipping or dead tires. (by tires mean that and traction)??????????

what mode fails, of the many, and where.???????



first off, we dont know what your tires are touching.

on road, or off road. pavement or ICE or snow.

that matters big time . (you read manual and match MODE to Road)

your lost operators guide explains all that, right?

eg: how and when to use, 4wd, its all there. I promise.

ControlTrac 4-wheel-drive system



here are the mode. which one , gives you problems.



quote ford with comments.



What are the modes, and how do they differ?

(note this is the operational behavior of a 2008 Ford Expedition. Newer and older Expeditions will vary only slightly)



• 2H 2-wheel-drive with high range gearing (1.00:1) Rear-wheel-drive capability,

2-wheel electronic traction control system is enabled



• 4A 4-wheel-drive Auto with high range gearing (1.00:1) Full-time all-wheel-drive capability, ((best on pavement or any time)

Electronically adjusted torque split to front & rear wheels, Electronically variable center differential,

Front driveshaft & rear primary driveshaft allowed rotational speed difference,

4-wheel electronic traction control system is enabled



• 4H 4-wheel-drive with high range gearing (1.00:1) Part-time 4-wheel-drive capability, (not for dry pavement EVER)

Continuous 50/50 torque split to front & rear wheels, Electronically locked center differential,

Front driveshaft & rear primary driveshaft mechanically locked with no rotational speed difference,

4-wheel electronic traction control system is enabled



• 4L 4-wheel-drive with low range gearing (2.64:1) Part-time 4-wheel-drive capability, (off road usage, mostly)

Continuous 50/50 torque split to front & rear wheels, Electronically locked center differential,

Front driveshaft & rear primary driveshaft mechanically locked with no rotational speed difference,

4-wheel electronic traction control system is enabled, ESC and RSC are disabled



In 4A mode the center differential is electronically-controlled and rear drive wheel bias. The on-board computer monitors for any sign of rear drive wheel slip (loss of traction)

If loss of traction is detected, the center differential is told to send a share of the engine\'s torque to the front drive wheels. It will not let the front driveshaft turn at the same speed as the rear driveshaft.



What about traction management?

1997-2002 model Ford Expeditions offered an optional limited-slip rear differential (LSD). A conventional open rear differential was standard along with the conventional open front differential and the electronic locking center differential.

comment with out LSD, one tire can spin, on say ice.

but the other 3 tires dont, in full time.

YOU CAR HAVE ABS AND TRACTION CONTROL.
IF YOU DRIVE ON ICE AND SNOW TRACTION CONTROL WILL APPLY BRAKES TO ONE WHEEL AND GIVE MORE POWER TO THE OTHER SO YOU WILL TAKE OF STRAIGHT. WITHOUT TRAC. CONTROL THE WHEEL WITH LES TRACTION WILL SPIN AND THE OTHER WILL STAY. MOST COMMON PROBLEM IS ABS SENSOR IS BAD.LET TECHNICIAN SCAN YOUR ABS SYSTEM TO LOCATE THE PROBLEM. REPLACE THE SENSOR AND YOU ARE READY TO DRIVE AGAIN ON SNOW AND ICE.
GOOD LUCK

The AWD means All Wheel Drive. Sort of the same as a 4 wheel drive. All the wheels have power at the same time. In a slippery road condition, all tires/wheels can loose traction at the same time causing loose of control - which would be normal. AWD does not mean traction all the time in snow and ice. It still has to be driven with caution and respect to road conditions. Hope this helps.

Hi Correia,
Having four wheel drive built onto a vehicle gives traction through all four wheels, meaning that if one of the four wheels looses traction all the driving motion is directed through that spinning wheel. When driving on snow, ice or mud, gently does it all the time! Gentle acceleration and slow down using gentle gear changes. Use the brakes as little as possible. Remember if you lock up the brakes and the vehicle begins to slide you'll have no control at all! Traction control is entirely different than four wheel drive. Traction control will control any wheel which begins to slip and thereby keep you in control.
Regards Johngee10

The basic explanation of these gears are as follows.
2up/2wd is a basic two wheel drive setting where the vehicle will react as a rear wheel drive. In this gear the transmission will only distribute power to the two rear wheels(best for all around driving with clear road conditions and will give the best fuel efficiency).
4up/4wd is a high speed four wheel drive setting. in this gear the transmission will always distribute power to all four wheels and will allow you to drive at higher rates of speed( good for poor road conditions when ice and wet roads are a moderate risk).
4dwn/4lo is a low gear four wheel drive setting where again the transmission will distribute power to all four wheels but will limit you to a low rate of speed(good for really rough roads and severe weather or very poor traction conditions).
auto gear selection is basically a all wheel drive setting, where the transmission will use a primary setting of rear wheel drive gearing until the vehicle slips or looses traction on one of the drive traction. as soon as the transmission detects a difference in wheel speed between the two rear wheels, at which time the transmission locks up the front differential turning itself into a four wheel drive, until the wheels have regained traction and remain spinning at the same speed for a set amount of time, at which time it will then unlock the front differential at return to a rear wheel drive setting. this is a good all around gear but will cause you to get slightly less mpg/kpg then a 2up/2wd gear would. i hope this helps

This is the Traction Control Warning light. Traction control is device added to the engine/gearbox sytem, and is designed to help minimise wheel spins when moving away, particularly on a slippery surface. When the system detects the wheels starting to slip and Traction control starts to cut in this warning light shows.

Traction control cannot do much to help in severe ice or snow though, so you can expect to see this light showing or flashing if the conditions are extreme.

If this light shows when the conditions are not extreme, stopping and restarting the engine will often reset it.

Your traction control comes on when it notices either your rear tires slipping or front tires slipping and it counteracts the slip to control the slide. It should be working all 4 brakes though not just the front. There is a traction control sending unit under the dash that should be looked at to make sure that it is sending the Trac Control the right message. If it is reading the slide wrong then it should be replaced. Sometimes then can just reset the computer and all works well other times you need to replace the sensor. I would see if they can reset the computer first then go from there. Pleae rate if satisfied. Thank you